"Onyx—"
"Fuck off, Draco," Onyx hissed when he walked up to the table, where her and Blaise were sitting now that the party had resumed. They were both drinking, whispering to each other. They went silent when Draco walked over.
He turned to Blaise.
"I didn't mean to say it, I swear to Merlin," Draco said in agony. He raised his eyebrows at Zabini expectantly.
Blaise set down his cup. "It's not about me, mate," he scoffed.
Draco stood up straighter, deciding what to do next. He had been in his dormitory for the past couple of hours, pacing back and forth and chain smoking. But now, he knew what he needed to do.
"I'll be back," he told them.
"Didn't you notice, Draco?" Onyx said with a sadistic smile. He thought Onyx was just as furious with him as Evan probably was. "Pansy's preoccupied."
Parkinson was snogging Theo on the couch, right out in the open. Draco looked over at them with a hateful scowl. Theo was too drunk to notice what happened, and Pansy was just being a piece of shit.
"I'm not going to Pansy—I'm going to Evan," Draco said through gritted teeth.
"She . . . ran off," Blaise said in bewilderment, his face falling.
"Yeah. I'll be back soon," he said. He tore over to the portait hole and stepped through it.
After their fourth-year duel over Cedric Diggory, Draco had discovered Evangeline Blackwood's hiding place.
That night, after the duel and after Madam Pomphrey had fixed him up from the stinging jinxes and other malicious injuries, Evan completely and utterly disappeared. Onyx was complaining that she was worried—as Evangeline had been gone for hours. Blaise thought she was hiding somewhere in the castle, sulking in some dark classroom or a deserted corridor. Once Theo started saying that she might have ran away, escaping the castle and going Merlin's knows where, Draco got up from where they were chatting at the table and went off to find her.
He didn't tell their other friends where he was going. He snuck out of the dungeon in the middle of the night, making the excuse that he wanted to party with the Ravenclaws—to snag some painkillers for his shit day. They believed it, and stayed home. He embarked on his quest alone.
Draco had looked at all of the hiding places he could think of. He checked the library, the Room of Requirement, Myrtle's bathroom. He knocked on Gryffindor's door and confused the shit out of Dean Thomas. He confused Hagrid even more, then checked the lake and the boathouse.
He had found her at the Astronomy Tower.
Fourteen year old Evangeline hadn't been crying—she hadn't even seemed upset. She was just standing by the balcony casually, smoking a cigarette by the railing and staring off into the cloudless night sky, her back turned to the entrance as Draco lurked in the shadows. He didn't go up and talk to her. He just turned back around and went to bed without her even noticing he had walked in.
Three years later, Draco found her in that very same way. It was an uncanny resemblance.
When he walked into the Astronomy Tower, he was not sneaking around as he had forth year. He walked right in, approaching her slowly as she stood by the railing. She noticed him immediately, her ears perking up at the sound of his footsteps.
"Unless you're here to expell me, I suggest you leave," Evan said, not even turning around. Her voice was so hardened, so threatening.
Draco walked over to the railing. Once he approached, he turned towards her, leaning over the rail and staring at her side profile. She didn't look over; she just took another drag. Her eyes were illuminated by the moonlight, and they looked rather red and puffed. Her atmosphere was still as strong and commanding as ever as she looked out onto the darkened castle grounds.
Draco stole himself, preparing for the screaming match that was sure to ensue. He held the sweater out to her, straightening up. It was a peace offering, a way to show her that he didn't give a damn about Parkinson and that the sweater was, in fact, a symbol of his affections for her.
Evan took one half glance at the garment in his hands and chuckled darkly.
"Burn it," she snapped.
"Evan—" Draco whispered cautiously.
"I don't want anything you've ever touched," she said, her voice dead.
Draco tucked it back under his arms and leaned onto the railing. He stood next to her in silence, simply existing in her presence. He followed her line of sight and scanned the ground below, his hair blowing in the wind.
Evan broke the silence.
"Did you come up here to defend your actions?" Evan hissed to him, still not looking over. She took another drag, blowing the smoke out and scowling at it as it curled into the open air.
"Not at all," he replied softly, tracing his eyes along the stars above.
"What the fuck could you possibly want, then?"
Draco paused, considering. "That word broke your heart," he said, staring intently at the stars. "I know it did."
The term was normal to him, to his family, and even to his friends, sometimes. He'd said it so often, to so many different people, that along the way it lost it's meaning. It was a casual term. His father said it around the bloody dinner table.
"Can't break what was never fixed to begin with," Evan commented. He noticed that her voice was taking a tone of bubbling rage, like she was having to strain to keep the anger locked inside.
Draco turned to her, standing up straight in determination. "Let me fix it."
Evan chucked her blunt off the balcony and faced him head on.
"You can't!" Evan exclaimed, shaking her head. "Malfoy, you can't, and I don't want you to."
"Tell me how to make it better," he said, searching her eyes.
"Why?!" Evan exploded, blinking rapidly and shaking her head. "What's the damn point?!"
Draco took a step forward in defiance. He looked down into her eyes with meaning, trying to ingrain his words into her skull as absolute truth.
"You tried to make me admit to it this morning," he started cautiously, surveying her as if she were a venomous snake, mouth open and ready to pounce.
Evan scoffed, laughing ironically through her anger.
Draco leaned in, holding her eye contact.
"I care about you," he murmured, his heart racing, "And I want you. And I think you're fucking fantastic."
"You think I'm inferior," she rebutted, spitting the words into his face, attempting to stab him with them. "And whatever the fuck has been happening between us . . . it's over."
"No it's not," Draco scoffed.
"It's over, Malfoy," Evan seethed.
If she thought he was going to give up that easily, she must know him at all.
"No," Draco said slowly, punching the word out with severity.
"FUCK YOU!" Evan exploded in his face, gripping the railing with white knuckles. "I'M TELLING YOU IT'S OVER, YOU DON'T GET TO SAY 'NO'!"
". . . No," he said again, over-enunciating the word and stepping in closer.
"FUCK YOU, DRACO!!"
He considered her, narrowing his eyes. "Go on," he said, giving her a bristling once-over. He dropped the sweater to the floor, leaving his arms at his sides as if exposing himself to her. "Let it out."
"YOU'RE A FUCKING ASSHOLE! I NEVER SHOULD HAVE STARTED ANY OF THIS WITH YOU!"
Maybe the best possible thing he could do for her was just to let her scream. "More," Draco said, staring into her blazing eyes.
"YOU'RE A PIECE OF SHIT!" Evan shrieked, her face turning red. Her hand trembled on the railing.
"Good girl, keep it coming," he said, and he took another step closer.
"YOU MAKE ME SICK, BITCH ASS BLOOD SUPREMACIST, PRETENTIOUS DOUCHEBAG!!" she yelled in his face, taking her own step forward and advancing towards him like a deadly predator.
"More," Draco urged, his voice rising along with the heat on his cheeks.
"I HOPE YOU DIE ALONE, ALONG WITH DADDY AND YOUR BITCH OF A MOTHER!"
"MORE!" he yelled in her face, now inches away.
"I FUCKING . . . HATE YOU!!!" Evan screamed at the top of her lungs. Something shifted in her eyes.
"You hate me," Draco said, staring down the barrel of her loaded gaze.
"Oh, I hate you," Evan spit out, her voice choked.
His heart was a gift. She could do whatever she wanted with it—break it, cherish it, stomp on it—Draco didn't care. What a vulnerable realization this was.
"But I don't hate you," Draco whispered, leaning in closer. "I don't hate you," he repeated. He was close to her now, locked into her orbit. "I don't hate you, Evan," he said once more. He reached up and gripped her chin, pulling her face back forward from where she had turned away.
"It's over," Evan hissed through gritted teeth, her eyes glassy. "I want it to be over."
"But it isn't," Draco deadpanned. He gripped on to the back of her neck, holding her eyes to his. He raised his eyebrows. "And I will never call you that word again."
"But you haven't won your stupid little bet," Evan snapped at him, resisting the resolution.
"Fuck the bet!" Draco erupted, holding on tighter. "I don't give a damn about the bet! I'll never call you a Mudblood again."
"I don't need you making promises to me, Malfoy," she seethed.
Draco narrowed his eyes at her, tilting his head. "It's not a promise," he said with heat. "I'm just letting you know. Never again."
Evan was physically fighting against him. He could see it. Her face fell for a singular moment, her eyes softening. But then it was like she had yelled at herself, reminding herself to be angry.
"You know, why don't you just get the bet over with now?" she asked, raising her arms at the empty Astronomy Tower around them. "It's your perfect opportunity."
Draco let go of her, taking a step back.
"Look," he started. She unwillingly met his eyes. "I'm not one to apologize, you probably know that."
"Great," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"But I'm sorry," he said, a wave of emotion hitting him straight through the hole in his chest.
"I don't give a fuck," she said, squinting angrily at him.
"Evan, I'm so sor—"
"Do you not understand what this place is like for me? It's hell," she said, furrowing her brows. "I love being a witch, and I love this world. But I've gotten the absolute worst of it."
How awful must it have been to have grown up like that—a muggleborn in Slytherin? If she were in any of the other three houses, she would have been fine. But she ended up in Draco's house, with him, so she was doomed from the start.
"This school is hell," Evan said. Draco's face fell in understanding. "And when I leave here, I'm going to go somewhere where it doesn't matter at all who my parents are and I'll never speak to any of you again."
He could not understand that. She couldn't just abandon Onyx, her best friend—and Blaise, who was equally her best friend. Hell, even Theodore may be a little asshole, but he'd take a killing curse for her. And he'd fucking cry if she left.
"Evan, Pansy was out of line but—"
"It's not just Pansy!" Evan exploded.
"I know," Draco said, closing his eyes.
"It's all of you! You're all CUNTS!" she screamed.
"I know," he said again.
"WOULD YOU STOP BEING SO FUCKING . . . FUCKING . . .?!"
"What?" Draco hissed, his eyes snapping open.
"CALM!" she screamed at him, eyes wide as she purged seven years of rage. "STOP BEING SO FUCKING CALM, YOU'RE DRIVING ME MAD!"
Draco blinked, then obliged her wishes. If she wanted a screaming match, he could manage to start one. It was their specialty, after all.
"You want me to be angry?! I am!" he screamed at her.
Draco wasn't angry at her, though, so he scrambled to think of something. But then he latched onto something he could believably be pissed at her for.
He leaned in, glaring right into her eyes.
"I could yell at you, tell you how pissed I am that you took your shirt off in front of the ENTIRE COMMON ROOM, IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT!!" Draco screamed in her face, satisfying the bloodlust she craved.
"I WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO IF YOU HADN'T BEEN SUCH! A LITTLE! BITCH!" Evangeline retorted, her face growing red again.
Draco resisted the urge to cackle, as goddamn did she know how to raise hell. "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK!" he lashed out. "THE ENTIRE HOUSE SAW YOUR TITS!" he screamed out ludacrisly. The sound echoed off the walls. "NO ONE IS ALLOWED TO SEE THAT, BECAUSE I WANT IT ALL TO BE MINE!!" Draco added the truth into his rant, just for extra flavor. "FUCK IT, YOU ARE MINE!!"
"I DON'T WANT TO BE YOURS!" Evan shrieked in his face, as they were mere inches away now.
"TOO! DAMN! BAD!!!"
They were silent then. He didn't see her relax by any means. He considered her, getting a fucking ridiculously bad idea. It would most certainly be painful.
Because when Draco was pissed, he liked to break shit. There was something about that sweet release of destruction, something about physical harm that cured the emotional turmoil.
Maybe he was just batshit crazy—but no matter.
Evan said something, something about how she 'couldn't do it anymore' but Draco ignored her, his head spinning.
"Hit me," Draco said. He knew that they were more alike than he ever imagined.
"What the fuck?" Evan asked, her rage taking a backseat for a moment.
"You fucking hate me? You're furious with me? You want to hurt me?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrows. "Hit me, then. But then get the fuck over it and forgive me."
Evan looked him up and down. She was considering it, but only slightly.
"I'm not gonna hit you, asshole," she snapped back.
"It'll feel so great, though. A quick punch to the jaw," Draco tittered, smiling like a psychopath. He tilted his head to give her a good angle to strike.
"Stop," Evan said. Her voice was a clear warning. Draco ignored it.
"I know you want to," he said, cocking a brow. "Just punch me in the face so we can move on from this."
"That's a terrible solution," she said, but she uncrossed her arms as if in preparation.
"It'll be effective, though," Draco countered, deadly serious. He raised his eyebrows and tempted her, stepping forward with each sentence. "I called you a terrible name, I didn't stand up for you against Pansy, I made you take off my sweater, so punch me in the fucking face, Blackwood."
Oh, she was gonna do it. She clenched a fist and looked at his nose.
"Don't be a pussy," Draco said, smirking in satisfaction. "Do it."
Evan looked Draco up and down, tilted her head, and then—
POW!
Draco stumbled back, bleeding profusely from his nose—as Evan had just cracked it open like an egg.
A laugh bubbled over in his chest as his blood poured down his chin. She had bitch-smacked him so hard, the bones in his nose had broken with a sickening crunch. Draco turned his attention back to her, grinning. He barely even fucking felt it.
"There," he laughed psychotically through the adrenaline rush. His mouth filled with his own blood, flowing in a steady line and coating his teeth in its metallic taste. He spit a sticky mouthful onto the floor.
"You're fucking insane," Evan said, looking at him wide eyed.
Draco laughed again.
"I think you broke my nose," Draco chuckled, then he looked her in the eye, his mouth filling with blood again. He spat it out and flashed her a red smile. "Feel better?"
"Only a little," she replied quietly, cradling her hand. His blood was on her knuckles—that's how hard she had hit him.
"By all means, do it again," Draco laughed. The laughing shifted the broken bones in his nose, causing him to wince. He touched at his nostril, hissing at the pain.
Then, the most beautiful, marvelous, knee-buckling sound reached his ears. Evan was laughing, loudly and gleefully, her face screwing up as she looked at him, bloodied and broken.
Draco busted into laughter as well, his eyebrows raising at the center and the corners of his eyes squinting. This made her laugh harder, because he was grimacing in absolute agony.
"Damn you, come here," Evan said through her laughs, removing her wand. She placed a hand on his shoulder and pointed her wand at his nose.
Draco's face fell.
"Episkey."
"Agh!" he called out, feeling the bones of his nose snap violently back together.
Evan busted out laughing again, goddamn her.
"Fuck," he hissed, touching gingerly at the injury.
"You're lucky I didn't decide annihilate your balls instead," Evangeline chuckled.
Oh god, could you imagine? Draco's father would not have had to worry about a 'dirty blooded' heir, as there would never have been an heir at all after she was finished with his nutsack.
"Again, you mean?" Draco smirked, remembering her assault from many weeks ago. He should have known back then, the truth he had witnessed that night she kneed him in the groin—Evan lived for the destruction, just like him.
By the grace of the heavens above, and maybe the bitches below too, Draco and Evan were back to teasing. That's how he knew they were going to be okay.
Draco swiped the Quidditch sweater from the floor and held it to his bloody nose. Evan laughed again. The collar of the sweater was soon soaked in crimson.
It was worth it, the pain. It was not the first time she had hurt him, after all.
And unfortunately, it would not be the last.
- - -
After a while, Evan's laughter calmed down.
They stood by the railing, talking about nothing and looking out onto the darkened grounds as Draco tried to staunch the flow of his blood. He didn't think he'd ever been more happy in his life.
Because he fixed it. He actually managed to fix it. It was not over between them and he was convinced it never would be.
When they went quiet, Evan lit another blunt as Draco gazed at the moonlight. It was quite beautiful there. If only they could have just had an Astronomy Tower date instead of late-night fight club.
"Ugh," Draco complained, because he fucking hated the smell of her muggle weed. The entire tower reeked of it, the smoke curling into his face as the wind blew it in his direction.
Evan rolled her eyes and walked over to him. She gave him a smirk and reached up, placing the blunt between his lips.
He did hate muggle weed, but he took an extra long drag. She held it up for him, holding it to his lips.
Draco puffed out the smoke, blowing it off to the side. His brows furrowed together as he blew it out, and Evan traced her eyes along his face, staring at his bruising nose and the blood caked underneath it.
Evan sighed exaggeratedly and suddenly sat down, sprawling on her back on the floor in one singular fluid motion.
Evan crossed her legs, placed her hands behind her head, and looked past Draco at the night sky. He copied her cadence, sitting on the floor and rolling back to a laying position.
They laid there for a while in silence, passing her joint back and forth. The back of her head was laying flat on the hard floor, so Draco shifted to the side. She raised her head. Draco tucked his bent arm underneath it.
"I'm taking you to bed with me," he told her.
"I still hate you."
Draco chuckled. "Noted," he said. He turned onto his side. Evan followed him, and soon they were gazing at each other face to face across his arm-pillow. "Still taking you to bed, though," he murmured.
There was a moment of silence, then Evan scoffed, "You think you're getting pussy tonight?" with a lopsided smirk.
"Well damn," Draco said, feigning disapointment. "I figured all the blood and gore would turn you on."
Evan greeted his flirtation with a soft giggle.
"I just want to sleep next to you," Draco said seriously, smiling warmly at her. He narrowed his eyes in a teasing glare. "Get your head out the gutter."
"I'm still pissed at you."
"I know."
"And I still don't think I want to do this anymore."
"That makes sense."
"And I still don't know if I want to be yours."
"Well, that's a bloody shame," he said, unfazed.
"Inexorable," she said.
"Mmhmm," Draco nodded.
"Stubborn."
"That's me," he replied.
"And a total jackass."
"You like it," Draco teased. Evan admitted just the previous night that she liked him mean—she couldn't fool him, not anymore.
Evan just rolled her eyes.
"I am pretty tired," she then said with a shy smile. Draco searched her eyes, a knowing smile growing on his lips.
"Me too, exhausted," he sighed dramatically. Then he yawned, because really, he was so fucking tired.
He had been awake for over twenty four hours. And in those twenty four hours, he'd beaten the fuck out of a sexual predator, carried a drunk girl across the length of the castle, had two screaming matches with her, received his first blowjob, won a Quidditch match, and had his fingers and his nose broken—and consequently repaired. Not to mention the half pack of cigarettes he'd smoked, the three Butterbeers and the half bottle of firewhiskey he drank, and now the half of a weed cigarette. And he had barely eaten.
He needed a bloody nap. Or a complete hibernation. But goddamn it, Evan smiling again. So it was a good day.
Seeing his exhaustion, Evan sighed. Then she smiled to herself, leaning over him to swipe the Quidditch sweater.
"I'm keeping this," she said, holding the bloodied sweater up and doing a quick spell to clean it. "I think I bloody well earned it."
They walked side by side back to Slytherin Dungeon. Once there, Draco followed Evangeline inside, dead on his feet.
The common room was a shit show, as expected.
Theo was passed out by the fireplace, Crabbe and Goyle were cuddling on the couch. Draco made a mental note to give them hell for how their legs were tangled together. Crabbe was spooning Goyle. He would have thought it would be the other way around.
"About time!"
Onyx and Blaise jumped up from the table to greet them, both looking outraged but equally relieved.
"You said you'd be back soon, Malfoy. We thought she fucking murdered you!" Onyx exclaimed as they walked closer.
"Merlin's left saggy tit!" Blaise called out. Theo grumbled at the noise, squirming around and thrashing in his sleep.
All three of them, Onyx, Evan, and Blaise, inspected Draco's nose. All three of them looked quite pleased.
"Damn, you got him good!" Onyx praised Evangeline. Evan chuckled, then turned and smirked at the injury, proud of it. "Serves you fucking right, asshat," Onyx then said. She pushed on his shoulder, a semi-teasing shove.
"Can you at least be friendly to each other now?" Blaise said hopefully.
"Oh, we're best mates, for sure," Evan said, giving Draco a knowing look.
"Where's Parkinson?" Draco asked, stumbling into his seat and scowling at the tabletop. She was clearly not with Theo, as he was snoring loudly right behind him.
"Her and Daphne went to bed a bit ago," Onyx said with a tone of resentment.
Soon, as Draco chatted and talked with Evan and their two friends, he crossed the bridge between tired and bloody delirious. As they started a game of Exploding Snap, Draco fucked around with Blaise, peaking over his shoulder at his cards and laughing at his attempts to ward off him off.
"God, such a cheater!" Onyx exclaimed with a laugh. Draco took a swig of firewhiskey, grinning at Onyx over the lip of the bottle.
Soon, after some shit talking between Evan and him, Draco won the game. He didn't understand how, as he could barely keep his eyes open.
"Oh hell yeah!" Draco exclaimed excitedly.
"Go ahead and gloat," Blaise grumbled.
"Well played," Evangeline snickered, tossing her cards down.
"Don't pump up his ego even more, E," Onyx said.
"Just admit it. I'm miles above you sorry sods," Draco said, leaning back in his chair and taking another thick gulp of firewhiskey.
"And humble," Onyx commented. "Well, I'm going to bed." Onyx was standing up from the table. She retreated, giving Blaise a subtle wink.
"Oi," Draco whispered to Blaise as Evan cleaned up the cards.
"Hm?" Blaise said, tearing his eyes away from Onyx as she walked away.
"She should take our dorm, yeah? Because of Pansy," Draco whispered. "It's empty, anyway."
"Oh, you're a godsend," Blaise whispered back with unexpected enthusiasm. Draco furrowed his eyebrows, confused. Blaise addressed Evan. "You can take our dormitory. If you don't want to be near Pansy."
Evan looked up, then she gave Draco a knowing look, hiding a smile.
"And . . . where the hell are you two gonna sleep?" Evan chuckled, looking to Blaise again. "Cuddled on the couch like Crabbe and Goyle?"
Draco flung his arms around Blaise's neck and made kissy faces at him. Evan was beside herself as Blaise leaned away in disgust.
"Fuck no," Blaise said as Draco settled back down. "Malfoy can take the floor in here and I'm gonna go raid Onyx's bed."
"Gross, Zabini!" Evan shrieked, chucking a card at Blaise.
"What?" Blaise chuckled. "Everyone knows about us anyway. Fuck it."
Soon, Blaise escaped and Evan and Draco were alone again. Evan gave him an up and down look, pursing her lips.
"Enjoy the floor," she sighed dramatically, as if in pity. "I'll try not to get too much drool on your pillow."
She started to walk away, but Draco used his last burst of energy to chase after her. When he reached her, he grabbed onto her waist, stooped down, and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her up the stairs. She squirmed and gripped onto his back, her body trembling with silent laughter. Draco carried her into the empty dormitory and deposited her onto her feet. Evan gave him a weak little punch to the chest.
"Ow," he whined, rubbing his chest over-dramatically.
"Oh?" she chuckled, then she stared at his bruised nose menacingly. "I will re-break that shit."
Draco walked over to his bed and collapsed upon it.
"Maybe that's how we can solve all of our future problems," he said sleepily, already closing his eyes as he leaned up against his headboard. "You do seem much happier now that you've beaten my ass."
"It was immensely satisfying."
Why in the bloody hell was her voice still so far away? When Draco open his eyes reluctantly, Evan was still standing with her arms crossed, watching him in amusement.
"Come here," he murmured, shifting to make room.
"I still hate you," Evan replied, pursing her lips.
"Come here, babygirl," he said sleepily, reaching a lazy hand out for her. She broke, crawling into his bed with him.
"You're not forgiven yet," Evan threatened. Draco gripped onto her waist and pulled her in tightly, sliding her across his mattress. He kissed sloppily on her throat, relieved to have her back—right where she fucking belonged.
"How about now?" he teased, kissing on her neck some more.
"Stop being cute. It's gross," Evan grumbled.
"You think I'm cute?" Draco asked, looking innocently up at her. She still had her arms crossed, but was leaning into him with her cheek on his pillowcase.
"No," she said suspiciously, eyes darting to the side and then back.
"You think I'm cuuuute," he cooed, torturing her.
"Fuck off."
"Hmmmm," Draco sighed. He nuzzled his head in her neck, holding onto the small of her back. Evan wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him in. He breathed in deeply, gently grazing the skin on her lower back—trying to even out the violence of the day with heart-wrenching softness. He reveled in her, kissing her collarbone. Evan tucked her leg between his, tangling them entirely together. He could hear her heartbeat.
It would be worth anything—to wake up the next morning and find her there.
After many moments of silence, Draco was nearly passed out. She was so fucking warm, and her heartbeat was lulling his exhausted mind into a serene sleep. He vaguely felt her fingers brush his hair back, petting him softly as he drifted off willingly into oblivion.